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[Wendo]

The title sounds pathetic, I know. But hear me out.

I have a very diverse group of friends, but almost every single one of them has a very distinct set of interests, and are unwilling to to really step out of their little zone. So often I'll want to talk about something random and specific, but no one knows what the hell I'm talking about, or cares to really hear about it. I've got friends that are totally obsessed with cars and sports all of the way to friends that are obsessed with D&D (I'm not).

Yet, on the internet, you are able to find people that share your insanely detailed interests with relative ease. I can start talking about new Radeon benchmarks. Or new Jessica Alba pictures. Or RFID technology. Etc.

I watched Sin City a couple of days ago, and it dawned on me that the people I really wanted to talk to about the film were on the internet. The people I went with had some very brief and vauge things to say, and that was it.

I guess I just find online discussion more enriching and efficient in comparison to trying to talk about various concepts/movies/books/video cards/Hondas to other people. In a way, it's depressing. But in another way, I think it really allows for communication on a level that we didn't have access to before the internet.

 

[demi]

Get off the board.

No I'm just joking, internet rox real life sux we know

 

[Space Age Playboy]

Internet friends aren't fake people, they're real people you know over the internet. Eventually nobody will even differentiate between the two. It's just because the internet is so new that people are reluctant to give it the respect it deserves.

 

[demi]

internet friends are better because you can call them racial slurs or various acronyms and it won't matter because they can't do SHIT

like this

lol you piece of shit


see how that works?

or to make another example from your categories


radeon sucks lol you piece of shit

it's very simple to understand, i would like to meet all of you, but that sure as hell won't happen anytime soon so until then CAN YOU TAKE THE BEATINGS OF A THOUSAND :lol ?



ps i still like you don't hate me

 

[Wendo]

Internet friends aren't fake people, they're real people you know over the internet. Eventually nobody will even differentiate between the two. It's just because the internet is so new that people are reluctant to give it the respect it deserves.

Yeah, that's about how I feel about it.

lol you piece of shit

LOLWTF ROFLCOPTER!

 

[ChrisReid]

Almost all my best friends are mainly through the internet.

 

[Keyser Soze]

Yeah I <3 The Interweb

I once knew this girl, I havent talked to him in ages!

 

[demi]

On the internet I can be like "stfu girl" and she will be like "lol", and my real friends will be like "what are you doing dude" and I'll be like "dude i'm just trying to be cocky and funny" and then this real girl walks up to me and i'm like "rule #1 chica i don't take fat girls out to eat" and she's like "fuck off"


story of my life, really

 

[Crispy]

I don't have any friends I only know through the internet anymore. I used to, but since I don't go on MSN anymore (5 months now) I don't hear anything from them. I guess that's typical for internet friends, you're forgotten once you don't go on the internet anymore

 

[kablooey]

Nothing to be ashamed of. I've met a lot of really cool people through the net, whom I most likely would've never known of otherwise.

On the internet I can be like "stfu girl" and she will be like "lol", and my real friends will be like "what are you doing dude" and I'll be like "dude i'm just trying to be cocky and funny" and then this real girl walks up to me and i'm like "rule #1 chica i don't take fat girls out to eat" and she's like "fuck off"


story of my life, really

:lol :lol

 

[demon]

I can have a deeper respect for someone I've met online over someone I know in real life. But you just can't feel close to someone and bond with someone online like you can in real life. I think the reasons are fairly obvious.

 

[aoi tsuki]

The surface anonymity provided by the net lets a lot of people open up. i visit the Yahoo! voice chat forums every now and then to listen to discussions on various topics. Some of the people you'd never suspect with a certain opinion talk a lot more openly about things than they would in real life. Some of the most publically racist, homophobic, and generally closeminded people in real life are completely different online.

i generally like talking with gamers on the net better than in real life, because it's a lot easier to filter out the chaff. Outside of the people i worked with at Gamestop, a lot of gamers i've spoken to are misinformed and completely biased.

 

[Scrow]

Do you sometimes like "internet friends" better than real ones?

heh, yeah. sometimes. but then i remind myself that "internet friends" rarely do things for me that I really appreciate.

 

[demi]

heh, yeah. sometimes. but then i remind myself that "internet friends" rarely do things for me that I really appreciate.

I'll fellate you.

 

[etiolate]

I talk about more stuff with my internet friends than I do my friends from say school or work.

 

[cubicle47b]

I don't really have internet friends. There are a few people that I like a lot on this forum but actually talking to them in a thread is rare and I never talk to them outside the board. I really just discuss issues I'm interested in with people I don't know and yeah, the internet is often great for that.

I have longer, more interesting conversations in real life with various friends. It's just the subjects I talk about are more limited. And there's this great thing about real life friends that you don't get with internet friends, going out and doing something together.

 

[speedpop]

There are many instances where I will talk about my friends online by real-name basis to my girlfriend or whoever and they know who I am talking about. They are some of the closest friends I have, besides the 2 guys I hang around in real-life who are mega champs. But yeah, I would tell a secret to my net friends and know that they will die with it, that's how close it is.

Net friends are great because no matter what time you are online, one of them will be awake :lol

 

[TekunoRobby]

No and never.

I have a few very good internet friends and keep contact with my good high school friends who are now in different countries but those only exist because I can't be with them in person.

The physical presence, emotion, and vibrancy will never be replaced. Everything else is just a poor alternative out of necessity.

 

[Lambtron]

It's just a different way of communication. I'd rather meet 100 cool people online, than meet 5 cool people "in real life." I'd rather have the blessing of meeting people that I connect with and not be able to see them in person, than to not know those people exist at all.

I've got my fair share of internet friends, a lot of whom I've been friends with for as long as most of my best friends. I don't differentiate, they're all friends of mine. And they'll talk to me unlike others 'cos they don't have to see my fat face all the time, word!

 

[Manics]

I envision the afterlife consisting of an internet message board and online chat. Nothing else.

 

[Escape Goat]

No wonder GAF can't get girls. They're always "going out" to "Norrath" or "Hyrule" ont he weekends. And the chicks there aren't having it.

 

[Gek54]

Work, school, and wife has turned all my real friends into internet friends. :\

 

[TekunoRobby]

It's just a different way of communication. I'd rather meet 100 cool people online, than meet 5 cool people "in real life." I'd rather have the blessing of meeting people that I connect with and not be able to see them in person, than to not know those people exist at all.

Yes but it still remains a poor alternative. I've known several really awesome people whom I've met on the internet (forums, etc.). and also those who I've kept contact with over the years. The only method of communication I have with them is all based on text, audio, or crappy video, none of it in person. If I've had my way we would be hanging out face to face and not have to resort to such limitations. Having a physical connection with a nother human being does indeed bring friendships closer (and in some cases apart), that's something that current technology can't replicate.

Hopefully that explained my initial comments a little clearer. While I love meeting people with my specific interests I wish it were more personal than merely chatting. In the meantime I'll just have to make do since there isn't any other way.

I have a very diverse group of friends, but almost every single one of them has a very distinct set of interests, and are unwilling to to really step out of their little zone.

Sadly I'm in the exact same boat.

 

[Blackace]

I've met a few of my best friends from the Internet (John, Dave, Austin, Eric and Chris) but if I didn't meet them in real life I would never call them that....

 

[Pimpwerx]

It's nice in that you can converse with internet friends at your leisure. You're not obligated to call regularly, or hangout and shit. But that's only sometimes. I do enjoy hanging with my friends and going out. If I couldn't do that, I'd shoot myself. So the internet is nice, but I wouldn't say I like internet friends more. Personal contact is a necessity that you can only really get with regular friends.

Besides, online, I talk about totally different stuff than in normal life. Panajev and I used to have tons of tech discussions online, but when we met up in person, I tried avoiding talking about that stuff as much as possible. I tend to use the internet as a bit of an escape. Where I can discuss anything I want as openly and honestly as possible without worrying about hurting feelings. But in-person, it's pretty much standard bullshitting. PEACE.

 

[Litigation Manuel]

I'll fellate you.

That's the problem though, that's all internet friends are good for: fellating. I mean, with friends in real life, you can hang out or watch a movie or something. But with internet friends, they're all like "drop yo pants I will fellatioize you! LOL!". Don't you see Demi? People need more than felatio. They also need food.

 

[MIMIC]

No, no and never.

 

[flsh]

My internet friends are people whom I enjoy talking to. I like them only because they are inteligent and talk to me about things we both share interest in. The only online friend I have which I feel "attached" to is a real friend who moved to south korea that I talk to every change I get just so we'll stay in touch.
My real friends are people I would have NEVER talked to over the internet. We don't share a lot of interest (The only 2 things we have in common we can talk about are games and movies. Too bad I'm a console gamer and they are PC gamers and they are Star wars lovers with usually bad taste and I'm open minded and like everything that's good and usually don't like what they like :lol ), we just hang out and pass time.
If my friends liked anime, hardware, had a similar taste to mine about movies, liked console gaming and stopped talking about fighting\music (playing it, not hearing it)\bullshit I don't care about I wouldn't have come to the internet

 

[tedtropy]

Yes. Also, you can get pregnant from cybersex.

 

[djtiesto]

There's only like 2 people I know on the internet that I'll really talk with much in real life. Then again I only have about 5 people I'll hang out with on a regular basis. I met my girlfriend on the Internet though.

 

[kablooey]

My internet friends are people whom I enjoy talking to. I like them only because they are inteligent and talk to me about things we both share interest in. The only online friend I have which I feel "attached" to is a real friend who moved to south korea that I talk to every change I get just so we'll stay in touch.
My real friends are people I would have NEVER talked to over the internet. We don't share a lot of interest (The only 2 things we have in common we can talk about are games and movies. Too bad I'm a console gamer and they are PC gamers and they are Star wars lovers with usually bad taste and I'm open minded and like everything that's good and usually don't like what they like :lol ), we just hang out and pass time.
If my friends liked anime, hardware, had a similar taste to mine about movies, liked console gaming and stopped talking about fighting\music (playing it, not hearing it)\bullshit I don't care about I wouldn't have come to the internet

That's true...though I think what's great about meeting people online is that once you do actually meet them in person, the connection is that much stronger, because the other person likes you for your personality alone, and not for any superficial reasons. That's what happened when I finally met some of the people I've been talking to online (on other forums ), and I'd say they're some of my best friends at the moment. True, it's saddening that you can't see them all the time, but the times that you do actually get to meet with them are great.

 

[Justin Bailey]

That'd be a no. I don't really consider anyone I talk with online a "friend." Although I don't really talk with many people online on a personal level. Just lurk around here and throw a comment in a thread every once in a while.

I've never actually met someone IRL that I originally met on the internet though, so I can't really comment on that.

 

[dog$]

Nah, everyone pisses me off equally.

iFriends are easier to ignore, at least.